This application is directed generally to temperature stress reduction in mechanical assemblies and in particular to improved mounting for a circuit board used in conjunction with a plurality of interconnected assemblies, and is more particularly directed toward improved circuit board mounting for temperature stress reduction in a vibratory rotation sensor.
Complex electro-mechanical systems are often designed and implemented in a modular fashion. In other words, there may be a module (or subassembly) that contains most or all of the electromechanical components, as well as electrical drivers and sensors. Another module or subassembly, interconnected with the first, may then include electronic circuitry to provide necessary drive signals, amplify and/or filter sensor outputs, and provide computational or signal processing resources. The separation of system components into modules, as described above, may often be dictated by manufacturing concerns, efficient testing of manufactured assemblies, or proper interoperability of system components.
Of course, the modules or subassemblies must then be assembled into an integrated product. This often means that an electromechanical subassembly must be interconnected with an electrical connection header, for example, as well as one or more circuit boards containing electronic components. Particularly where size of the finished product is a concern, this generally means that the modules or subassemblies will be in close proximity to one another, making at least mechanical contact with one another, and often both mechanical and electrical contact. There is also generally a need to provide a housing around the modules or sub-assemblies, and the housing also is generally in at least mechanical contact with one or more of the system modules.
Many modem electro-mechanical systems must be designed to operate in harsh environments, including extremes of temperature. Since the modules and sub-assemblies of the integrated product often have different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs), as do the mechanical housing components of such a system, thermal stress related to these differing CTEs, over a wide operating temperature range, is of significant concern to system designers.